The present invention relates generally to electronic document management, and relates more particularly to the signing of electronic documents. Specifically, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for adding signature information to electronic documents in a secure environment.
Adding signature information to an electronic document (e.g., an electronic contract) can be an extremely tedious undertaking due to the numerous manual tasks involved. For example, a typical procedure for signing an electronic document may include removing security settings from the electronic document, determining the type or format of the electronic document, determining the orientation of the electronic document, locating signature pages and the positions of signature fields within the electronic document, determining the number of signatures required and retrieving the necessary signature information, adding this signature information to the electronic document, watermarking the signed electronic document to distinguish it from other copies of the same electronic document, restoring security settings to the signed electronic document and converting the signed electronic document to one or more other formats for storage and/or other execution processes (e.g., fulfillment).
The manual nature of the above process renders it both tedious and inefficient, as user error may result in a processing error or even a security breach. For example, electronic documents may exist in a variety of formats including text and image formats, and may even be received from facsimile machines and stored as scanned copies. These different formats may have signature fields located on different pages and in different portions of the electronic document. Additionally, if the electronic document and the signature information exist in two different formats, addition of the signature information may be even more difficult. The electronic documents may also include a plurality of associated documents, including master agreements, supplements, amendments, addenda and other documents that may also require signatures. Moreover, an electronic document may require signatures from more than one party.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for adding signature information to electronic documents.